# On a Chinese Screen — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for On a Chinese Screen by W. Somerset Maugham.

- [On a Chinese Screen](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/on-a-chinese-screen.md): The chapter presents a series of vignettes and observations from the author's travels in China, capturing the cultural clashes, colonial ennui, and the search for meaning among Western expatriates and Chinese locals. Thr
- [The Rising of the Curtain](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/i-the-rising-of-the-curtain.md): The chapter opens with a vivid description of the approach to a Chinese city, detailing the dilapidated mud hovels, a string of disdainful camels, and a crowd gathered at the gate. Inside the city walls, the narrator obs
- [II: My Lady's Parlour](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/ii-my-lady-s-parlour.md): A woman transforms an old Chinese temple into a Western-style living space, decorating it with imported furniture, wallpaper, and photographs to recreate the feel of an English home in Cheltenham or Tunbridge Wells.
- [III: The Mongol Chief](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/iii-the-mongol-chief.md): A mysterious Mongol chief descends from the high Mongolian plateau through a mountain pass into China, accompanied by his henchmen. He rides proudly ahead, seemingly indifferent to the bustling traffic of camels, wagons,
- [IV: The Rolling Stone](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/iv-the-rolling-stone.md): The narrator recounts meeting a man whose extraordinary travels and experiences across the world, including a four-year journey through China disguised as a poor Chinese man, are belied by his unremarkable appearance and
- [V: The Cabinet Minister](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/v-the-cabinet-minister.md): The narrator visits a Chinese Cabinet Minister in a room that blends Eastern and Western decor. They discuss the strange persistence of historical dress, the decline of Chinese civilization due to Western influence, and 
- [VI: Dinner Parties](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/vi-dinner-parties.md): The chapter presents two contrasting dinner parties: one in the Legation Quarter with a cosmopolitan mix of diplomats and socialites, and another at a Treaty Port where expatriates dine in stifling routine and boredom. B
- [I: Legation Quarter](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/i-legation-quarter.md): The chapter depicts a diplomatic reception in the Legation Quarter, introducing a cast of international characters—including the Swiss banker's wife, the Minister of Guatemala, the Chargé d'Affaires of Montenegro, a Russ
- [II: At a Treaty Port](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/ii-at-a-treaty-port.md): The chapter depicts a formal dinner party at a treaty port, where the opulent setting contrasts with the tedious conversation and mutual boredom of the expatriate community. The guests, all business figures and their wiv
- [VII: The Altar of Heaven](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/vii-the-altar-of-heaven.md): The chapter describes the Altar of Heaven in Peking, a sacred site where the Emperor of China once performed the winter solstice ritual to worship Heaven. It contrasts this ancient grandeur with the modern tourist Willar
- [VIII: The Servants of God](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/viii-the-servants-of-god.md): Two missionaries, an elderly Frenchman and a younger Englishman, sit together discussing trivial matters, yet share a profound goodness and humility. The Frenchman, nearly eighty, has spent fifty years in China and faced
- [IX: The Inn](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/ix-the-inn.md): The narrator describes the final leg of a journey to an inn, passing through a city gate and crowded streets. Upon arrival, the inn is depicted as a bustling, dimly lit yard with rooms, tables, and a stove. The narrator 
- [X: The Glory Hole](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/x-the-glory-hole.md): The chapter describes the Glory Hole, a small cubicle above a chandler's store in an Eastern port where old sea captains, pilots, and taipans gather to drink, gamble, and reminisce about the port's glorious past during t
- [XI: Fear](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xi-fear.md): The narrator stays with Mr. Wingrove, a missionary in China, and observes the stark contrast between his refined tastes and his wife's vulgarity. Through subtle cues—his tortured eyes, strained voice, and physical revuls
- [XII: The Picture](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xii-the-picture.md): The narrator reflects on a mysterious traveler—perhaps a mandarin or a student—who, delayed at a squalid Chinese inn, creates a delicate ink drawing of a plum branch and a bird on the wall. The sketch, executed with mast
- [XIII: Her Britannic Majesty’s Representative](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xiii-her-britannic-majesty-s-representative.md): The chapter introduces the British consul, a small, officious man with a bristling demeanor and a talent for condescension. Despite his irritating manner, he displays unexpected bravery during a revolution, stepping betw
- [XIV: The Opium Den](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xiv-the-opium-den.md): The narrator contrasts the sensationalized literary and theatrical depictions of opium dens with the mundane, homely reality he encounters when visiting one. Instead of a squalid den of vice, he finds a clean, well-lit r
- [XV: The Last Chance](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xv-the-last-chance.md): The chapter introduces a single, thirty-year-old blonde woman in a treaty port who is desperately seeking a husband. Her efforts to appeal to every unmarried man are painfully transparent, and she is willing to adapt to 
- [XVI: The Nun](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xvi-the-nun.md): The narrator visits a convent on a hill, meeting the Mother Superior, a Basque nun who has lived in China for twenty years. She shows the orphans making lace and the hospital with sick soldiers. She reflects on the kindn
- [XVII: Henderson](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xvii-henderson.md): The chapter introduces Henderson, a British expatriate in Shanghai who outwardly espouses socialist and democratic ideals but reveals a deep-seated hypocrisy in his treatment of the Chinese. His conventional unconvention
- [Dawn](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xviii-dawn.md): The narrator describes the early morning departure from the inn, walking through the city streets and out the great gate as dawn breaks. He reflects on the beauty of the landscape, comparing the paddy fields and bamboo g
- [XIX: The Point of Honour](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xix-the-point-of-honour.md): The chapter explores the French national character and the concept of honour, using the Vicomte de Steenvoorde as a case study. It describes his appearance, mannerisms, and his peculiar marital arrangement where he profi
- [XX: The Beast of Burden](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xx-the-beast-of-burden.md): The chapter reflects on the figure of the Chinese coolie, initially seen as a picturesque element of the landscape but gradually revealing the harsh reality of relentless physical labor, suffering, and dehumanization. Th
- [XXI: Dr. Macalister](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxi-dr-macalister.md): The narrator describes Dr. Macalister, a former medical missionary turned entrepreneur in China, who recounts his early idealism and the gradual transformation into a shrewd businessman. The chapter explores the contrast
- [XXII: The Road](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxii-the-road.md): The chapter describes a journey along a narrow causeway through the Chinese countryside, emphasizing the monotony and beauty of the landscape, the common sights of peasants and travelers, and the occasional moments of tr
- [XXIII: God's Truth](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxiii-god-s-truth.md): Birch, a B.A.T. agent stationed in a remote Chinese town, suffers from extreme isolation and homesickness after three months without seeing another white man. When he finally encounters a missionary on the road, his desp
- [XXIV: Romance](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxiv-romance.md): The narrator reflects on the nature of romance while traveling down a river in China. He recounts past experiences that seemed romantic only in retrospect, and describes a sudden, inexplicable feeling of romance that sei
- [XXV: The Grand Style](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxv-the-grand-style.md): The narrator reflects on an elderly doctor, over eighty, who arrived in China fifty-seven years ago as a ship's doctor. Now serving as vice-consul in a small anchorage, he embodies an old-world gentlemanliness marked by 
- [XXVI: Rain](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxvi-rain.md): The narrator contrasts the discomfort of a rainy journey in China with the cozy comforts of London life, reflecting on the pleasures of home, family, and leisure activities like reading, writing, and attending the theate
- [XXVII: Sullivan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxvii-sullivan.md): The chapter tells the story of an Irish sailor who deserted his ship in Hong Kong and spent three years wandering across China, living on his wits by begging from magistrates. His luck ran out when a magistrate ordered h
- [XXVIII: The Dining-Room](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxviii-the-dining-room.md): The narrator describes a once-grand dining room in a decaying port city, reflecting on the decline of the foreign merchant community. The room's faded opulence mirrors the loss of prosperity and the melancholy of a bygon
- [XXIX: Arabesque](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxix-arabesque.md): The chapter presents a vivid and haunting description of the Great Wall of China, emphasizing its immense scale, solitude, and the human suffering embedded in its construction. The wall is portrayed as a silent, majestic
- [XXX: The Consul](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxx-the-consul.md): The chapter focuses on Mr. Pete, the British consul, who is in a state of extreme irritation following a visit from Miss Lambert, an Englishwoman who married a Chinese man named Yü. Despite his efforts to persuade her to
- [XXXI: The Stripling](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxxi-the-stripling.md): A confident seventeen-year-old Chinese youth walks along a causeway toward a walled city, seeking his fortune. He is tall, slim, with a smooth yellow skin, large eyes, and a jaunty bearing. Dressed in a black gown with t
- [XXXII: The Fannings](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxxii-the-fannings.md): This chapter introduces the Fannings, a solitary British family living in a fine square house on a low hill facing a river, five miles from the city. Fanning, the deputy commissioner, is a bald, thickset martinet whose a
- [XXXIII: The Song of the River](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxxiii-the-song-of-the-river.md): This chapter describes the various songs heard along the river, from the rowers and trackers on junks to the coolies carrying bales up the town steps. It captures the effort, strain, and indomitable spirit of the laborer
- [XXXIV: Mirage](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxxiv-mirage.md): The chapter introduces a tall American man with bulging blue eyes and an embarrassed manner, who manages the B.A.T. in a Chinese city that serves as a gateway to Mongolia. He lives in a combined office, godown, and resid
- [The Stranger](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxxv-the-stranger.md): The missionary escapes the sweltering city for his hill bungalow, but is troubled by an encounter with Dr. Saunders, who tells him about a stranger claiming to be Christ who sought the missions only to find them closed f
- [XXXVI: Democracy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxxvi-democracy.md): The narrator observes a Chinese official's initial display of authority at an inn, followed by his casual camaraderie with a coolie, reflecting on the nature of democracy in the East versus the West. He argues that the W
- [XXXVII: The Seventh Day Adventist](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxxvii-the-seventh-day-adventist.md): The chapter introduces a Seventh Day Adventist missionary traveling up the Yangtze River. He is a large, determined-looking man in a tight blue suit with an American flag lapel pin. He shows no interest in the scenery or
- [XXXVIII: The Philosopher](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxxviii-the-philosopher.md): The narrator visits a renowned Confucian philosopher in a remote Chinese city. The philosopher, a passionate defender of old China, condemns Western influence and the machine gun as the true source of Western superiority
- [XXXIX: The Missionary Lady](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxxix-the-missionary-lady.md): The narrator describes a formidable missionary lady, a woman of unwavering conviction and confident authority, who engages him in a conversation filled with platitudes and clichés. He attempts to match her with his own b
- [A Game of Billiards](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xl-a-game-of-billiards.md): The narrator, staying in a small hotel, is invited to play billiards by a mysterious, thin, red-faced stranger. After a silent game, the stranger abruptly asks if the narrator believes in fate, then departs, leaving the 
- [The Skipper](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xli-the-skipper.md): The narrator observes a seemingly wholesome, clean-living skipper who, despite his youthful appearance and respectable demeanor, reveals a drunken confusion about democracy and socialism. The skipper, a Harrow-educated m
- [XLII: The Sights of Town](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xlii-the-sights-of-town.md): The narrator describes his aversion to conventional sightseeing, preferring to wander aimlessly in foreign towns. He stumbles upon a 'baby tower' outside the city wall, a site where unwanted infants are abandoned, and re
- [Nightfall](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xliii-nightfall.md): The chapter describes a solitary journey at dusk through a stone gateway in a deserted landscape, evoking a powerful sense of nostalgia and melancholy. The traveler, carried in a chair, passes rice fields and a causeway,
- [XLIV: The Normal Man](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xliv-the-normal-man.md): The narrator reflects on the rarity of normalcy, using a lesson from anatomy to introduce Robert Webb, a seemingly ordinary and well-liked British consul in China. Through a series of personal revelations, Webb's facade 
- [The Old Timer](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xlv-the-old-timer.md): The chapter introduces a seventy-six-year-old former sailor who has spent his life in China, recounting his varied career on the Yangtze, his three marriages, and his current role as chief officer on a river steamer. Des
- [XLVI: The Plain](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xlvi-the-plain.md): The narrator reflects on a moment of profound personal association when, expecting to see a Chinese landscape from a hilltop, he instead sees a vista that reminds him of the Rhine valley near Heidelberg. This triggers a 
- [XLVII: Failure](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xlvii-failure.md): The chapter introduces a portly, aging man with a theatrical air, dressed in outdated but flamboyant clothing, who once came to China as a tea-taster but failed to prosper as Ceylon tea overtook Chinese tea. He tried var
- [XLVIII: A Student of the Drama](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xlviii-a-student-of-the-drama.md): The narrator receives a visit from a young Chinese professor of Comparative Modern Literature, who has studied in Europe and advocates for Scribe as the model for Chinese drama. Their conversation reveals the professor's
- [XLIX: The Taipan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xlix-the-taipan.md): The Taipan reflects on his rise from a modest home in Barnes to his powerful position as head of a major English firm in China. After a lavish lunch, he strolls through a cemetery, sees two coolies digging a grave, and b
- [L: Metempsychosis](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/l-metempsychosis.md): The narrator encounters an old Chinese gentleman, dressed in traditional silk robes and cap, who appears as a sage from an old painting. However, the old man is engaged in the frustrating task of leading a little black p
- [LI: The Fragment](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/li-the-fragment.md): The narrator reflects on the Chinese passion for decoration, from shopfronts to bridges, and the weariness it eventually induces. A French doctor shows him a fragment of a Greek statue discovered near the Tibetan frontie
- [One of the Best](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/lii-one-of-the-best.md): The chapter introduces a nameless, middle-aged bachelor who is highly regarded in the port community as 'one of the best.' He is cheerful, sociable, and generous, yet openly despises China and its people after thirty yea
- [LIII: The Sea-Dog](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/liii-the-sea-dog.md): The chapter contrasts the dull, practical nature of most sea captains with the unique character of Captain Boots, a Dutchman with a restless, elusive personality. It recounts his varied career from seal hunting to estate
- [LIV: The Question](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/liv-the-question.md): The narrator is taken to a temple complex where locals point out the exquisite artistry and architectural harmony of the buildings, but when asked about the spiritual purpose behind the construction, they are unable to p
- [LV: The Sinologue](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/lv-the-sinologue.md): The chapter introduces a sinologue, a European scholar living in a temple outside the city gate, who is deeply immersed in Chinese language and literature. He is physically stout and nervous, living in sparse conditions 
- [The Vice-Consul](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/lvi-the-vice-consul.md): The vice-consul attends an execution in the judge's yamen, observing the condemned man's terror and dignity. After the shooting, he returns to the consulate and stops at the club for a cocktail, where he casually discuss
- [LVII: A City Built on a Rock](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/lvii-a-city-built-on-a-rock.md): The chapter vividly describes a grey, gloomy city built on a rock at the confluence of two rivers, with narrow, winding streets, a dense and noisy population, and a pervasive stench. The narrator reflects on the impenetr
- [LVIII: A Libation to the Gods](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/lviii-a-libation-to-the-gods.md): An old, poor Chinese woman performs a traditional ritual at the harbor, lighting a red candle, joss-sticks, and burning paper offerings while muttering prayers. She pours a libation, bows three times, and then calmly dep

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